There is no definitive standard for what constitutes an exceptional piece of art. While some may consider a work of art to be the epitome of expression, others may consider it to be absolute gibberish.
Prior to the Digital Age, the greatest obstacle faced by artists trying to make a living, was garnering enough exposure for their work so that it could reach those who appreciated it enough to purchase it. Thus, for centuries, the most effective way for an artist to attain that level of exposure was by getting a successful commercial gallery to display their work.
Unfortunately, this often proved to be incredibly difficult because there were only a limited number of galleries and a plethora of artists competing for the right to display their art. Moreover, since most art galleries turn a profit by taking commission from the artwork that they sell, curators were motivated to display pieces that they believed would sell at a considerable price relatively quickly. So no matter how good an artist's work may have been, if the curators did not like it or thought that it did not fit the mold for what was a popular sell at the time, then there was little chance that their creations would see the light of day.
This meant that many people had to make a difficult decision--whether to compromise their art to fit within commercial, or shall we say, curatorial boundaries or to stay honest to their creative expression and thus, remain a struggling artist.
This dilemma continued to characterize the industry, until one day the dawn of the Internet revolutionized the artistic world. Ever since, not only has digital artwork become an entirely new medium of creation but more importantly, the internet now provides an infinite number of platforms through which art can be displayed to people around the world. Finally, artists have the ability to display their work to millions of people without having to deal with middlemen such as curators and dealers who might have concealed their work from the public eye.
In his book Viral Art, writer and photographer RJ Rushmore provides insight on this matter by sharing his joint interview with Steve Harrington and Jaime Rojo - the duo that runs the Brooklyn Street Art Blog and has authored two books of their own.
"The internet has made it possible for the artists and the public to have a greater direct, relatively unfiltered relationship to one another," Rojo and Harrington said. "Sharing of images through websites, blogs, and social media have enabled artists to go directly to the audience without the filtering of gatekeepers who got their position through class, education, or a silver spoon."
"A greater share of the public than ever before have an opportunity, albeit virtual, to see new work that they simply would not have had access to ten years earlier."
The new opportunities ushered in by the Internet have restored artists' power over how they can create and monetize their work--instead of having an overflow of artists competing to win the approval of a select few, there is now a surplus of galleries who must compete to feature work from the best artists.
This competition has bred an environment that is much more accommodating to both, the artist and the consumer. Traditionally, art dealers and agents have charged a whopping 40 to 50 percent commission on the sale of any piece of artwork.
Imagine building and selling a house, only to be forced to give your real estate agent half of the money. It's more than just a little ludicrous, and one of the many head-scratching oddities that the industry used to be able to forcibly impose upon people. But not anymore--thanks to the surge of competition, artists now have options other than giving up half the value of a piece that they did 100 percent of the work on.
Your Art Gallery, a non-exclusive online gallery, is a prime example of a polar opposite to the flawed practices that plagued the art industry in the past. YAG only takes a 10 percent commission off of the royalty on the creations sold on its website - a figure previously unheard of.
"When our buyers find something that they consider to be an exceptional piece of art, we want them to have the peace of mind knowing that 90 percent of their purchase is going directly to the artist who created it," said Heather Griffin, Co-Founder.
YAG also provides both the artist and the buyer with various other perks that go against the grain of what traditional galleries have practiced for years. Anybody who signs up with the website can create and display a portfolio of their work for free. No single curator decides whether or not someone's work is 'good enough'--instead, the website's community of buyers along with other artists rate and vote on the pieces that they like, akin to social media websites like Facebook and Reddit.
"We strive to separate ourselves from the 'haut monde' commercial and private art gallery world," Griffin adds. "It's not up to any singular individual to pre-judge the artistry of another individual."
"Our hope is that we can help bring democracy and free access to what, for a long time, was an exclusive and closed art world."
People from over 40 different countries have signed up for YAG, which seems to indicate that artists around the world are hungry for innovative websites that can help usher in a new era of fairness within the art world. With any luck, the continued rise in popularity of these alternative online galleries will push old-school galleries to concede some of their more traditional values. While not everybody can agree on what constitutes a good piece of artwork, it seems right that any work's value be judged by the many instead of the few.
The premise for Your Art Gallery is to connect an interested buyer to what they truly consider as art, without having to channel through the heavy filters & expenses posed by traditional art galleries, while also allowing the seller - the artist, to inexpensively and effortlessly showcase their artwork. Many artists today have no venue to share their work and personal artist websites only garner so much traffic. Furthermore, in the event of a sale, artists are required not only to produce the piece but also to package and ship their work all along with eventually collecting their payment. With YAG, artists need only focus on making art, the rest is seamlessly taken care of.